During a meeting on the intersectionality of race and disability, we discussed what it means to be authentic. There were many great answers. The one below was one of the most vulnerable. tt was given by Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams:
I don’t trust myself, so authenticity feels really elusive. Is that REALLY me? I have a loud voice and excited loving personality. I need to be weird. I need to be able to make mistakes and say things that might not be right. I talk to figure things out. I need to be able to be accepted to be fully myself. I am wildly insecure and sometimes need to name that. I too need to feel comfortable to be Disabled and Miwok. Sometimes I avoid revealing these parts out of shame, but they’re so salient. When I can talk from these parts I am the most me.
We hope Cierra’s words will encourage others to consider authenticity and their relationship with it. Does it come easy or difficult? How so? Think about it and let us know! P
Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams is a fat and sassy thoyewa (disabled) Miwok cisgender assa (woman) with salt and pepper hair. Cierra is a survivor of poly violence with CPTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and is on the bipolar spectrum. She is smiling into the camera and is wearing a pink floral shirt in the picture below.
Cierra is a Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, where she co-founded Indiana Disability Justice.
